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Patrícia Silva

Carbon Removal | Carbon Markets | Investor | Advisor | MBA | Engineer

Patricia Silva is a cleantech professional who helps bring projects to life by providing access to finance and advisory services. With over five years of experience in strategy, operations, and growth roles in the cleantech sector, she has worked with multi-nationals, governments, and NGOs in developed economies and emerging markets, managing large-scale sustainable construction projects, and taking on leadership positions. Her skills in due diligence, financial analysis, and investment screening have been applied to various roles, including VP of Business Development and Strategy at Senvio, Business Development Manager at Globality, Inc., and Energy Consultant at Arup. Silva is an engineer with a technical master's degree from Instituto Superior Técnico and an MBA in Energy and Cleantech from the Berkeley Haas School of Business. She also studied Sustainable Cities, Business at UC Berkeley, and accomplished various courses in Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst, startups, Corporate Strategy at the Corporate Finance Institute® (CFI). Besides her professional endeavors, she enjoys doing Krav Maga, hiking, and climbing while admiring other people and cultures, visiting fifty-three countries to date.

Highlights

Jul 31 · linkedin

🌍 Delighted to share notes from my second site visit in Kenya, to the new Takachar project 🌿✨

Takachar, a biochar technology created by Kevin Kung and deployed in India, has partnered with Safi Organics Ltd. to deliver carbon removal credits in Africa. Safi Organics was founded by Samuel Rigu and Joyce Kamande and they have been producing organic biochar fertiliser for the past eight years. Together, they are setting up a state-of-the-art large-scale biochar and fertiliser facility in the Mwea rice region, near Nairobi. This facility will serve as a model for new locally produced organic fertiliser factories across Kenya.  🏆The Takachar and Safi Organics partnership has been selected as one of the 20 finalists in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition!

I met with Samuel, Eric Maina , and CJ Fonzi and Scott Hosking - key investors from Africa Climate Ventures - who were also visiting. The technology is operational six days a week, using rice husks as feedstock, and they are on track to receive EBC certification. The facility produces granulated and powdered biochar for machine and manual application.

🔍 Did you know? Rice husks, besides being used as biochar feedstock, are also commonly used for animal feed and cement kilns as a fuel source. The project has implemented measures to mitigate any potential leakage risks.

📊 Currently

  • The project is supporting 10,000 farmers across various common plantation types
  • Developing a larger factory to expand the production capacity by tenfold, expected to be commissioned by August
  • Offering a stable and affordable biochar-fertiliser mix, unaffected by the government’s fluctuating subsidies on traditional fertilisers
  • Biochar credits have been purchased by organisations like Klarna and WRLD Foundation

🚀 Future plans

  • Exploring new sources of feedstock to scale in Kenya
  • Expanding operations to other regions in East Africa

⚠️ Challenges

  • Fluctuating government subsidies: Demand for fertiliser is challenging to forecast due to the government's inconsistent subsidies on fossil fuel-based imported fertilisers.
  • Transition for traditional farmers: Convincing traditional farmers to switch from less efficient chemical fertilisers is challenging. Younger farmers are more receptive to change, recognising its economic benefits.

Thanks for welcoming me to the site Samuel and the team. Eagerly looking forward to seeing the larger facility operational in a few months! 🌱🚜

James Mwangi #Biochar #XPRIZE #Kenya #Takachar #SafiOrganics #CarbonRemoval #SustainableAgriculture

Jul 22 · linkedin

Feeling incredibly grateful and revitalised after these incredible transformative days with the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt team at the RESPOND Leadership retreat in Germany! This immersive experience brought together startups, mentors, and business leaders, offering a profound reminder of the importance of pausing, reflecting and deepening connections. Some of my highlights:

✨ Embracing vulnerability and active listening ✨ Silent moments individually and collectively created invaluable space for introspection. These reflections helped us evaluate our strengths and areas for growth as leaders. The practice of active listening opened up the floor for sharing our deepest thoughts, uncovering common challenges and offering mutual support.

👯 The power of conscious face-to-face interactions 👯 Meeting in person allowed us to bond in deeper ways that virtual interactions or the typical conference setting simply can't match. The shared collective wisdom and group experiences in-between ping-pong matches and nourishing vegetarian meals created a unique energetic bond among us.

🌳 Grounded by Nature 🌳 The natural setting of the BOLD Campus fostered a grounding experience. Walking barefoot, hiking through the forest, and even hugging trees (I did it!) helped us reconnect with nature and align with our leadership purpose: to make a positive impact on our planet.

🙏 A heartfelt thank you to Ilana Wetzler, Tomás de Lara and Julio Salazar for leading us through inspiring sessions and the entire RESPOND team for creating one of the best-organised events I’ve ever attended!

Organisers Leah Becker, Verena Finkenzeller, Bennet Barth, Anna Fuchs, Emanuel Farag, Marie-Luise Nau, and fellow attendees Soji Sanyaolu, Thomas Nann, Ines Serra Baucells, Carla Escobedo Jalife, Dominik Novakovic, Maike Lambarth, Ferdinand Krebs, Julia Bialetska, Eugene Tomilin, Benjamin Droguet, Leena Al Olaimy, Doreen R., Ritu David, Anne Krug , Caterina Lurani, Tatyane Ramos de Oliveira, Sammy Fry, Lars Hoffmann, Dr. Manuel Schneider, Lisa Mangertseder and Marc Beckmann for the fantastic 📸

#Leadership #Networking #PersonalGrowth #RESPOND2024 #BMWFoundation #Gratitude #ResponsibleLeaders

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Patrícia Silva
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Location

Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal